Wowcher refund

ashpan

Hi, in December last year we purchased 3 Wowcher’s for 6 of us for a spa day at a hotel. One of us then became ill so we phoned the hotel who said the voucher would be valid for a year, it expired on wowcher end of March. We were about to rebook in March then Covid Hit so hotel locked down. The deal has now changed to the extent that it’s no longer what we purchased -around 50% less ie half a day at spa,  and wowcher are refusing to refund, offering credits instead which we don’t want 

Aylesbury_Duck

You bought a voucher, they've supplied the voucher.  Offering credit is perfectly lawful.  This is the problem with voucher providers.  If you'd paid by cash or card you would have had more options.

ashpan

the issue is that the hotel and wowcher have changed the terms and conditions, we’Re not getting what we paid for

Aylesbury_Duck

ashpan said:

the isdue us that the hotel and wowcher have changed the terms and conditions, we’Re not getting what we paid for

This needs checking carefully.  The hotel may have changed the terms, but if wowcher haven't changed the terms of the voucher itself, you've got what you paid for: a voucher.  What exactly has changed and by which party?

It sounds like you have a contract with Wowcher, not the hotel, so if the hotel has changed its terms, that has no bearing on your contract.  You need to understand exactly what you bought.

ashpan

Hotel changed it from a full day to hakf day and removed some treatments plus only 6 allowed in pool at any one time 

DoaM

OK - you've still completely ignored (or not understood) what Mr. Duck said. What matters is what exactly did you buy? Did you buy the experience from the hotel and Wowcher were the payment intermediary? Or did you buy a voucher from Wowcher with which to redeem against the experience? (We suspect the latter - in which case a refund to a voucher/gift card is entirely reasonable).

born_again

ashpan said:

Hotel changed it from a full day to hakf day and removed some treatments plus only 6 allowed in pool at any one time 

Which given Covid they will have had to do in order to comply with the regulations.

ashpan

I perfectly understood the response from Mr Duck, we entered into a contract with wowcher after we purchased a full days spa experience from them. We paid wowcher to provide us with a full days spa experience from a hotel. Before the wowcher expired we entered into lockdown so were unable to use the wowcher before it expired. So where does that leave us being that we paid Wowcher? I have previously had a refund from groupon when a restaurant closed down so surely this is similar?

DoaM

Sigh. Please read the details of exactly what you bought! If you bought a voucher (which it sounds like you did) then a refund in credits is in line with your consumer rights. But only you can tell us - we can't see the details from here unless you can link us to the original deal.

Aylesbury_Duck

ashpan said:

I perfectly understood the response from Mr Duck, we entered into a contract with wowcher after we purchased a full days spa experience from them.
Did you, or did you buy a voucher for a full day's spa experience from them?  The two things are different.

We paid wowcher to provide us with a full days spa experience from a hotel.
As above, did you?

Before the wowcher expired we entered into lockdown so were unable to use the wowcher before it expired. So where does that leave us being that we paid Wowcher?

That absolutely depends on the answer to my first question.  If you bought a spa experience from wowcher, you perhaps have a better case than if you've actually bought a voucher to redeem against a spa experience. 

I have previously had a refund from groupon when a restaurant closed down so surely this is similar?
Not necessarily.  Two different companies, two different deals.  Given you haven't told us the terms of either, we've got no way of knowing if they're similar or not.

These voucher providers flourish because people will always flock to a perceived bargain.  As you are possibly finding out, they're not always the bargain they seem because they carry all sorts of restrictions, expiry dates and conditions where cash or card payments do not.  The basis of wowcher's model seems to be that they sell vouchers and have little or no responsibility for the goods or service you obtain by redeeming that voucher.  It's not always the case - I know some of these companies also sell things directly - but more often than not it seems to be the way they work.